ROCKIN' THE RODEO

A herd of country stars grabs Las Vegas by the horns

Story by Larry Holden - Photo by Morrison/Wulffraat

Inside the Thomas And Mack Arena in Las Vegas, the best cowboys in the world are competing in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the Super Bowl of rodeo events. They're ropin', ridin' and hangin' on to snortin' bulls.

Also in town are those rockin' Montgomery Gentry boys - Troy Gentry and Eddie Montgomery - who know a lot about bulls. Troy knows he rode one. And Eddie knows he used to want to ride one.

"Some people want to sky-dive, some want to bungee jump and some want to go white-water rafting," declares Troy, as he and Eddie throw down a little blackjack at the Hard Rock casino. "I always wanted to get on the back of a bull. Last year I got my chance."

Troy and Eddie were playing at Cowboys, a Colorado Springs honky-tonk. After their show, Troy was watching the bull riders in the club's indoor rodeo arena.

Eddie laughs. "I'd always talked about ridin' a bull, too," he admits, "even though I know those big boys can take you from zero to a problem in a second."

One thing led to another that Colorado day, and Troy ended up taking a joyride on a 1,200-pound bull.

"The cowboys gave me some pointers," he explains. "I fell off right away. It was still a real adrenaline rush."

Not content to leave well enough alone, Troy hopped up for another ride - which didn't go so well.

Read the rest of Rockin The Rodeo in Country Weekly's current Newsstand Issue[1]!